Drywall is the preferred material used in construction of most interior building walls. A typical construction method includes first creating a frame, then fastening sheets of drywall to the frame. In fastening the drywall to the frame, adjacent drywall sheets form a number of joints including corner joints, which may be overlapped or mortared, and butt joints where the ends of adjacent sheets abut each other.
When attempting to tape and finish drywall, one of the most difficult tasks involves finishing the joints so that they are no longer visible. Often times, professionals rely on automatic finishing “boxes” to achieve both the speed and precision necessary for commercial jobs. These tools typically comprise a box which holds a volume of joint compound, and an adjustable blade which defines an opening. The compound exits the box through the opening and is applied to the joint, with the profile of the joint compound being defined by the blade. Due to the fact that the shape of the blade remains constant during use, the user achieves a perfect joint profile or shape, and the joint compound is applied in a consistent and repeatable manner.
Unfortunately, these tools prove to be too cumbersome, complicated and too expensive for the “do-it-yourselfer”. They also require a lot of strength to use, as sufficient force is required to both hold up the volume of joint compound and position it on the wall. Consequently, most home improvement drywall projects are accomplished using hand tools, such as taping knives, trowels and the like.
Hand tools currently available lack the structural integrity required to maintain the proper blade shape during use. Achieving the proper profile is nearly impossible for the untrained hand. Butt joints and irregular joints are particularly the most challenging. Localized blade deflection is just one of the problems with these tools. Generally, existing drywall hand tools are comprised of a flat or curved thin metal blade attached to a handle, such as that shown in FIG. 1. The blade is flexible, such that, as pressure is applied during use, the blade is flattened against the drywall, as seen in FIG. 2. This results in application of an improper amount of joint compound, which in turn requires multiple applications and/or repeated sanding to remove the excess compound.
In terms of joint shape or profile, to provide the effect of a continuous surface, the shape of the applied material is used to mask the joints. Existing blades which are flexible across their entire surface, locally distort as pressure is applied to them creating irregular or improperly shaped compound at the joint. To correct this, the user may have to shape the compound by sanding the dried compound, apply more compound, or in the worst case, remove the existing compound and start over. The time and effort of correcting the imperfections created by existing drywall compound hand tools may overwhelm a “do-it-yourselfer”.
Therefore, it is apparent that there is a need in the art for a drywall hand tool, which is easy to use and applies joint compound in a consistent and repeatable fashion.